Of Photographs and Darkness
by AccessBlade
Summary: A tragic event rocks the Light household and Kris thinks she won't be able to pierce her life together again. But then she suddenly finds herself being drawn into a house called the 'Manor of Sleep'. Now stuck in a nightmare with several others who are also suffering, she must work with them to find a way out of the never ending dream. Or be forever consumed by the darkness.
1. Chapter One

**Heh, normally I wimp out when it comes to scary things (such as Zombies) but for some reason, I find Fatal Frame different. In fact, I watched an entire walkthrough of Fatal Frame III: Tormented. After watching the whole thing while I was currently in my Mega Man fandom obsessed mode, I decided to make this fic. **

**...  
**

**Hopefully, I'll be able to complete it. Or at least update really slowly. For the most part, it's going to focus mainly on my ccharacter (who is an OC) as well as the Mega Man universe. Of course, it's going to involve the Fatal Frame III cast, but don't expect my character to be wandering around the Manor of Sleep too much.  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Mega Man, Hetalia (even though its AU) or the Fatal Frame series. I do, however, own, my OCs. Particularly the main character.  
**

* * *

**Chapter One  
**

"Kristina, can I talk to you?"

Kris had been half way out of the classroom when the teacher's voice call over the rest of the students' excited cacophonies of school being over for the week made her freeze in place. She had known that this was coming, having felt the teacher's gaze on her the entire class, hence the fast attempted get away.

She briefly contemplated continuing on her way as if she hadn't heard her teacher in the first place when she was jerked backwards into the room by someone's tight grip on her upper arm. Kris whirled around to try and get the person to let go when she saw that it was Alfred F. Jones, one of her best friends, holding on to her and preventing her from making her get away.

If there was any way to describe Alfred, it would be that he was an ideal American. By that description, he was incredibly handsome with blond hair and blue eyes. And even though he wore glasses, it did not detract from his appearance. Apparently -if the words from the girls who wanted to get into his pants were anything to go by- it served to make him look even hotter than he already was without them.

And it wasn't just his attractive looks that drew people (mostly girls though there were a few boys mixed in as well) but his charismatic personality as well.

Alfred F. Jones was a loud, boisterous typical jock type sports specialist that could annoy you to no end if you weren't used to his typical declarations of being a hero and saving the day. But he had this spark that drew people towards him, even those he found him beyond irritating at the start.

But when Kris had turned to face him and tell him off for preventing her escape, he only stared back at her with uncharacteristic seriousness. His eyes were not sparkling with amusement like they usually were and they seemed to be conveying some sort of message: a message that said that she not attempt to walk out of the room... or else.

He jerked the hand that wasn't holding onto her towards the woman who was gazing in their direction, indicating that he wanted her to talk to Ms. Mercedes.

Knowing that she wasn't going to be able to get past Alfred without ripping her arm out of its socket-curse his insane super strength!- Kris went up to the teacher's desk with an expression that suggested she would have preferred jumping off a cliff over talking to her history teacher.

"You needed me for something?" Kris grounded out, ignoring the whispers around her and shooting her traitorous friend who was standing by the door a venomous look that said he would pay for his treachery later.

"Yes," Ms. Mercedes nodded. "Do you mind coming to my office with me? It won't take too long."

_'Actually I do mind thank you very much,' _Kris thought sourly but kept her mouth shut. She may have hated what the teacher was going to attempt to do, but Rita Mercedes was one of the few people she still genuinely liked these past few months.

"Fine." She muttered, not bothering to hide her displeasure.

The teacher smiled, but Kris noticed that it quite hadn't reached her eyes.

As soon as all of the students left the room when they got the hint that they were not going to get any more indication as to why the teacher wanted to speak to Kris for, the teacher and specifically mentioned student made their way to where the teacher's personal office was located. Once they got to the office, Kris slumped in the seat in front of the teacher's desk and waited for the on coming lecture/speech that the teacher no doubt wanted to force on to her.

"Chocolate?" The teacher asked, holding out a plastic container filled not only with chocolate but a variety of different sweets as well.

Kris stared at the container for a few minutes before giving into her teacher's demand of accepting the offering in front of her. She took two chocolate bunnies, unwrapping one of them and popping it into her mouth.

"So Kristina..."

_'Here it comes,' _The girl mentally retorted as she slowed down on chewing her chocolate bunny. '_The lecture on how she's concerned about me being so withdrawn from other people, that I'm skipping classes, ect. ect. ect.'  
_

"I hear that several of my other colleagues have attempted to approach you, but you've manage to avoid them every time." The look in the teacher's eyes said that she knew that Kristy had been avoiding/ignoring them on purpose.

_'Oh right, and me skipping all fifteen previous attempts of being dragged into someone's office. I would have thought that they'd have gotten the hint that _I don't want to talk _by now_._'_ Kris thought sourly. Honestly, they should have gotten the hint when she ditched any attempt to contact her the _seventh _time.

"I have nothing to say." Short, sweet and simple. And it got the point across indefinitely.

Rita Mercedes looked at her with unreadable eyes and Kristy stared back, her own eyes revealing nothing about her true feelings.

"Are you sure?" The woman asked after a few minutes of silence had passed between them.

"Yes." There was nothing but conviction behind the student's voice. She would not talk and no one would make her otherwise, authority figure or not. "I'm sure."

Ms. Mercedes stared at Kris again before letting out a long sigh.

The side of Kris' mouth tilted upwards, though not in amusement but in annoyance as she felt a vein throb in her head. It pissed her off that everyone around her thought that they needed to intervene in her life because she was acting 'abnormally'. Yes, Kris was aware that she hadn't been herself for the past few months, but what the hell more did they want? Did they expect for her to just go back to... _normal?_

Besides, her grades were better than ever, she hadn't gotten into any fights lately... she would have thought that the teachers would have liked her better this way.

"I see." The teacher sighed again, making the vein in the girl's head throb even more. "Then I suppose I can't keep you in my office."

That made Kris raise an eyebrow. She was pretty sure that the teacher, like the rest, would force her to stay and 'open up'.

Seeing the confused look on the girl's face, the teacher sighed. "I can hardly force anyone who is adamant on not talking to talk."

Kris blinked. "Is that so?"

Without realizing it, the girl had already gotten out of her seat and was already slightly turned towards the door. This made Kris blink again, though she wasn't very surprised as this had been the norm for several months.

Seeing as she was already up, she made her way towards the door before she was stopped again.

"Kristina," The student looked over her shoulder at the teacher's concerned gaze. Concerned... and sad? "If you need to talk to someone, you can always come and find me in my office, alright?"

Kris' automatic reaction was to just walk out the door and slam it hard behind her but there was something in Ms. Mercedes eyes that made her pause and think twice about it. Then she just shrugged at the teacher and walked out, closing the door behind her gently.

Rita Mercedes leaned back in her chair, staring at the door her student had just left through before her eyes landed on a photograph that was sitting on her desk. In the photograph was her younger self standing next to a man who looked very similar to her.

* * *

"ALFRED F. JONES!"

Alfred knew he was screwed when he heard someone call out his name and saw Kris storming towards him, hazel eyes flashing with anger. Gulping at his friend's murderous intent that was directed at him, he stood his ground and faced her though he was shaking some what. Yes, he was one of the most athletic students in the school (next to that stupid commie) and he had super strength that left most people gaping at him but there was something about the way the dark haired girl was glaring at him that made him want to run.

And he wasn't ashamed. At all. He knew that his friend was capable of making the toughest guys _cry. _

Kris only called him by his full name and initial she when she was really angry with him and she looked down right pissed.

"Ah hah..." Alfred backed away when she came to a stop about just a few inches in front of him. "So what did Ms. Mercedes say?"

His friend twitched. "Nothing."

That caught Alfred off guard as his surprise over took his fear for the moment. "Wait, what do you mean she said nothing?"

Alfred had seen earlier teachers try to get Kris to speak to them but to no avail. He knew this because his friend had bitched to him and his sister about the teachers' poorly disguised attempts of trying to get her to spill 'what was on her mind'.

The girl rolled her eyes. "I meant what I said. She just asked me one question and then let me walk out."

"Seriously?"

Kris glared at him, an angry glint in her eye. "Yeah. Seriously. No thanks to _you_."

Alfred gulped again for the second time in ten minutes, putting his hands in front of him in a complacent manner hoping that she wouldn't clobber him for preventing her escape earlier. "Uh, yeah... about that. I can explain."

The boy rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Mom... kinda made me do it. She said if I could, I should make you talk to someone. And..." He looked away. "I also kinda agree with her."

At the mention of his mother, Kris' expression blanked. She should have known that his mother was involved. Of course she would be; Annelise Williams-Jones was the English teacher at the school.

Alfred continued, ignoring his friend's blank stare.

"You kind of have to see it from our point of view."

"And what point of view would that be?"

"What he means is that you've become withdrawn and hardly talk to anyone, you don't do anything outside of going to school and you can't even look at me or Alfred in the eye if we're together in one place!"

Kris froze instantly at the interruption of the third voice. Crap.

Slowly, she turned away from Alfred and faced his sister.

His _twin __sister _Madeline.

With soft blonde hair that was a lighter shade than her brother's and violet eyes, Madeline Jones' (Or Williams as she sometimes liked to be referred to by) physical features were already different from Alfred's. At the same time though, you could definitely see that they were related. They didn't have the same shade of hair or the same coloured eyes but they did have the same face, not to mention that they were both wearing glasses.

Kris instinctively looked down at the floor to avoid the violet accusing eyes that were staring a hole right through her when Madeline's words registered in her head and she forced her hazel eyes to look straight into her friend's, if just to prove some point.

As much as she wanted to deny Madeline's claims of avoiding her and Alfred, the former was right. Kris hadn't hung out with them for a while and if she could, she avoided them both altogether. And if she had to face them both at the same time, Kris' gaze tended to wander, tended to avoid looking at them.

It _hurt _to look at them. It also hurt to go home because she had to face Rock and Roll as well. Hell, it hurt to face _Jazz__._ Both pairs and Jazz reminded her of something precious that she had lost.

Lost and was never getting back.

* * *

**Okay, I'm done. Yes, I know that the beginning has nothing to do with the Mega Man series, but you'll get to see the other characters in the next chapter. **

**In case you haven't realized it yet, there is quite a bit of foreshadowing here and there. Care to point it out? Like what Kristy lost?  
**


	2. Chapter Two

**Well, just after I completed the first chapter I decided to work on the second. I've pretty much got it all planned out in my head and in this chapter you finally get introduced to the Light Bots, including everyone's favorite blue bomber Mega Man! Also, an OC robot who is related to Blues.  
**

**Also, I forgot to mention this but the version of the Mega Man series I'm using is that of Hitoshi Ariga's masterpieces the Megamix/Gigamix series! Whoo!  
**

**BTW, I only got one review! Where are the rest of you guys?  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Mega Man or Fatal Frame Or Hetalia (even if its AU). I do, however, own Kristy and any other OCs in the story.  
**

* * *

**Chapter Two  
**

Somewhere along the way it had started raining.

Despite the fact that she was already soaked to the bone and was only half way to the house, Kris hardly took notice of her wet hair and clothes clinging to her body. She she was going to get it from the others, but she would deal with that later. For now she was just going to wander around in the cold rain and put off going home for as long as she could.

Soon after Madeline had arrived on the scene, Kris had said a quick good bye to the twins before turning away and going... somewhere. She had no idea, just any where away from her friends; she just needed some time alone. Madeline's words had hit her with the force of a speeding bullet train and had weighed heavily on her mind ever since. And if she was going to be brooding over it, she would do it by herself and without an audience thank you very much.

Which was why two hours later Kris was still brooding in the rain, not caring that she had sneezed several times and had practically condemned herself to suffering a cold for the next few days.

Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her cellphone and checked the time. According to the cell it was nearly seven.

With a sigh, Kris re-pocketed the communication device. Her family was definitely going to be worried and she knew that she was in for a lecture once she got through the door. She entertained the thought of staying out the entire night but quickly stashed that in the back of her mind. Staying away from home all night and worrying the rest of her family more so than usual would have been mean, even by her standards for the past few months.

As Kris looked around to try and figure out where she was and where to go from there, she spotted something in the display window that made her stop in place and stare.

Sitting on a purple velvet cushion was a camera.

It was a black camera with a gold design plating on it that could be considered an antique. In these days where technology just kept on advancing and people abandoned their old possessions for the newer models, it wasn't a surprise to find the 'obsolete' stuff up for sale at half price. However, it was a surprise to find something that would have been the hottest thing -What? Thirty years ago? Fifty years? It looked pretty old- still available in a store. Shouldn't it have been in a museum or something?

Before Kris was even aware of what she was doing -big surprise there- she was already opening the door and entering the store.

The warm atmosphere of the store immediately hit her in contrast to the cold dreariness that was outside. Wringing the edge of her sweatshirt at the front of the store so that she wouldn't drip water all over the place, Kristy made her way to the purchase desk to talk to whoever was in charge at the time about the camera on the display.

Though when she saw who was supposed to be minding the place, she had to fight down the impulse to walk right out again.

Sitting behind the register was a woman who had long black hair that fell over her face hunched over the table with her face buried in her hands. It took Kris one look to tell that there was something off about the woman- and it had nothing to do with the fact that she looked like Sahara/Sadako from the American and Japanese versions of the horror film 'The Ring'.

Though the image certainly did not help with the creepy feeling she was getting from the lady.

Because she was getting nowhere with just standing around and she was hoping that the woman would notice that she had a _customer, _Kris decided to take the initiative.

"Excuse me?" Kris said in an attempt to get the other person's attention.

The woman's head shot up and the girl took a step back, not only because of the sudden movement but also because of the wild crazed look on her face. With blood shot eyes, dark circles underneath eyes and pale skin that did not look healthy on any one, the woman was quite the sight to behold.

"What do you want?" The woman barked out harshly.

Kris took a step back again, completely unnerved by the woman's unsettling appearance. It was enough to make anyone run out of the store. But Kristy stood her ground, took a deep breath and asked her question anyways, hoping that the woman wouldn't scream at her too much.

"I wanted to ask about the camera at front. Is it for sale?"

She didn't think it was possible but the woman looked even wilder than she did just moments before. Her eyes bulged and her skin-was that possible?- whitened even more.

"The camera?" She barked. "The camera on the display?"

Kris nodded, speechless at the woman's even wilder transformation. Was she sane?

_'Clearly not,' _Kris thought as she stared back at the woman's unfocused gaze. _'__Maybe I should get out of here while I still can...'_

And if just to prove her point on the woman's lack of sanity, the latter laughed. And not in a good way either. It was the hysteric laugh of someone who was at the very brink and was about to lose it.

_'If she hasn't lost it yet, that is.' _Kris thought.

The woman suddenly stood up and with a swiftness that Kristy didn't think she had in her and made her way to the display. She turned back and scurried over to Kris with the camera in tow, roughly shoving it into the startled girl's hands.

"You want the camera?" Kris couldn't get a word in otherwise as the woman rambled and even if she could, she was distracted by the delirious light that shone in the lady's unfocused eyes. "You can have it!"

"How much?" Kris asked, reaching into her bag to get her wallet to pay for the damned thing so that she could get out of the store ASAP. What the hell had possessed her to in to the store and buy a _camera_? She wasn't into photography, for heaven's sake! That was more of-

Before Kris' mind could even dwell on it, she found herself being shoved towards the door.

"Nothing! It's free! Now get out of my store and never come back!" The woman said, opening the door and shoving Kristy out so hard that the girl stumbled out and fell on to the rough pavement, not only getting soaked once more due to the sudden exposure to the elements but scraping the palm of her hands as well. She heard the door slam hard behind her and turned around just in time to see the deranged lady flip the sign from Open to Closed.

Even after the woman had long left, Kris had remained where she had fallen and stared before getting off of her feet and brushing herself off.

"Okay..." Obviously someone needed to get the lady some help. Some serious help, if the short interaction between them was anything to go by.

Just as Kris prepared to leave (she was going to be in so much trouble once she got home) she kicked something. Looking down, she saw it was the very thing that had gotten her into the mess in the first place.

Picking the camera off the ground and using her white sweatshirt to wipe the dirt off of it (not that it did much good since it was already wet and dirty itself), the girl held it up to the sky and examined it. As far as Kris knew, there was nothing weird about the object. It looked like an ordinary camera, just with an unusual fancy gold design on it.

But the woman had seemed relieved to get rid of it, going as far as shoving it into her hands, saying that it was free and then kicking her out of the shop before she could say other wise.

Well... it was too late now. The lady obviously wanted nothing to do with the camera and it seemed like a waste to just toss it into the garbage. Maybe she should donate it to a museum or give it to someone who liked antiques?

Or maybe she should just keep it herself.

Kris realized that the camera reminded her of...

Of...

Of Katherine.

* * *

One minute she was about to twist the door open and enter the house with the announcement of finally being home and the next, the door slammed open and she was being yanked inside and dried down roughly with a towel that someone had thrown over her head before Kris had any idea of what the hell had just happened.

"Do you know what time it is?" The person doing the dressing down demanded as she unzipped Kris' sopping wet sweat shirt and dropped it on to the floor so that they could dry her off properly. "You're all wet! Have you been wandering out in the rain the entire time without an umbrella?"

It was Jazz and she did not sound happy.

Then again Kris' did stay out past eight and was soaked to the bone with a high chance of catching a cold and being out sick for the next few days.

Yeah. Jazz wasn't going to be the only one mad. She was going to get it from her uncle, Rock, Roll, Cut Man, Guts Man, Ice Man, Bomb Man, Fire Man and Elec Man. Hell, practically all of her family with the exceptions of Auto who hardly got mad and Rush, Tango and Beat because they were the household pets and couldn't talk.

Though the pets would definitely be showing their displeasure in other ways.

Kris loved them but in situations like the one she was going to be in soon it was... inconvenient.

She grimaced when her hands were presumably pulled towards Jazz, the other person's fingers lightly running over her new scrapes.

"Did you trip?" Jazz's voice was softer as she began examining Kristy for injuries.

Kris nodded. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

Jazz didn't say anything but Kristy could tell that she believed her lie. She had been bumping into things and stumbling over her own feet lately so it was hardly a surprise if that's how she got herself injured sometimes.

Kris heard Jazz give a loud exasperated sigh.

"I'll treat your hands later. Just go up and take a hot bath. Hopefully you won't end up catching a cold but you were in the rain for _hours_."

As if to prove her point, Kris sneezed.

"See?"

And then the towel was ripped off of her head and the girl could see again.

Standing in front of Kris was a beautiful girl with long auburn hair and sapphire blue eyes who was about the same height as her wearing a fuzzy pink sweater and a long flowing skirt. By her appearance, one would judge her to be in her late teens.

But Jazz wasn't human. If one were to look carefully into her eyes, which were slightly different from that of a human's, you would be able to tell.

Like Rock and the others, Jazz was a robot or a Robot Master to be specific. The only humans who lived in the house now were Kristy and her uncle Doctor Thomas Light.

But Jazz was also a bit different.

One of the differences was that she had a different serial number from the rest of her siblings. Jazz herself had asked the doctor to be given a different serial and that he pass the title of DLN-001 to his next creation.

Another was that Dr. Light had pre-programmed her personality before her activation. He had programmed her likes, her dislikes... nearly everything about what she would be able to do and what she wouldn't. The others had been given the choice as to what kind of person they would turn out to be. They got to choose what they liked, what they disliked...

Jazz hadn't been given that choice. Dr. Light had already decided it for her.

And the final difference was that she was built in the image of Dr. Light's _human _daughter, Amaya.

Amaya Light who had passed away many years before Dr. Light had built his robot children.

Hence her different number from the others: ALN-000.

Amaya Light Number 000.

Amaya for Dr. Light's daughter and 000 to match her twin brother's serial number.

Despite the fact that Jazz was originally supposed to be some sort of replacement for Amaya, it didn't take Dr. Light long to realize that he could not replace his deceased daughter any more than Jazz could be her. Jazz may have looked like her, minus the differentiating hair and eye colour, but she was a different person in her own right.

Dr. Light had apologized numerous times to Jazz for what he had done, but Jazz had not been angry at all when he revealed his reason for her creation. She understood why he had done what he had he did and Dr. Light had treated her like a daughter. He didn't treat her like she was _Amaya_ herself but as a second daughter, as a different person.

Before Rock and Roll's creation, Jazz had been the one responsible for the house cleaning and looking after Kris when she was younger. If one were to be blunt about it, she would be Roll's predecessor as Blues was Rock's.

After Roll took on the household responsibilities, Jazz found herself looking after Dr. Light's nieces.

"Ugh." Kris groaned after she sneezed several times again. "I'm going to go change now."

"Hot shower first." Jazz huffed. "Then change into your pajamas and come down. You missed dinner and you're probably hungry."

And as if just to mock Kris even more, her stomach chose that exact moment to growl.

Jazz smiled. "See?"

* * *

"Oh no you don't! You leave the dish washing to me!"

Kris growled when she found herself being pushed to the side by the pushy (get it?) blonde housekeeper.

As Jazz suggested, after she had taken a bath and dried herself Kris went down to the kitchen to have her dinner. Roll was waiting for her and after giving her a five minute lecture, warmed up Kris' food and stayed in the kitchen to make sure that Kris ate every bit of the meal.

"Roll, I can wash my dishes myself." Besides, wasn't she always complaining that everyone left all of the cleaning up to her while they went off and enjoyed themselves doing something else that was fun? Kris knew because she was the one Roll complained to about things like these, right behind Dr. Light because they happened to be the main causes of her extra house cleaning duties.

But the blonde, blue eyed girl was not going to take no for an answer.

"Jazz told me that you were sick, so no."

"I'm not sick." Kris deadpanned. "I'll probably be sick tomorrow, but for now I'm fine."

When Roll glared at Kris, the latter got the hint and left the kitchen quickly before she was hit in the head with a broom or worse, a frying pan. There was no point in arguing with Roll when she got that way; house cleaning was her domain and she wasn't going to let anybody take that away from her, even if it was for something as measly as washing your own cup and plate.

"Hey Kris, you're finally home!" Cut Man waved at her when she entered the living room. He didn't seem too concerned about her breaking curfew (again) if the huge grin on his orange face was any indication.

_'Crap, there goes my attempt to sneak into my room without anyone noticing.' _Kris thought, inwardly sighing.

"What time did you get home?" Elec Man asked, not as approving of her staying out late as Cut Man was.

"Half an hour ago. And before you ask, I never intended to stay out that late."

She slightly glared at Elec Man to dare him to say other wise.

Elec Man stared at her. "I never said that."

Kris flushed slightly when she realized that she had just bitched at him, even though he had been disapproving of the trouble her wanderings got her into.

"Yeah, I know." Without another word, she turned and headed up to her bedroom fully aware that the two were staring after her and doing her best to ignore that.

Once Kris was out of their hearing range (they heard the door of her bedroom slam shut) Cut Man turned to Elec Man and let out a sigh.

"Well," He drawled rubbing the back of his head, "it could have been worse."

Elec Man folded his arms with a thoughtful expression on his face. "Yes. She was in one of her more lighter moods."

There were a few ways to describe Kris these days by her moods: light, dark and the in between.

Light meant that she was approachable, though with a slight risk of her snapping at you.

Dark was when it was best to steer clear of her or _else. _

And in between was when she wasn't in a very good mood but still approachable if you really needed to talk to her about something.

The sheepish smile on Cut Man's face disappeared. "What can we do? Dr. Light said to be patient and understanding with her. That she's going through a really rough time and that it may be a long time till she recovers..."

"...and even then she may never fully recover." Elec Man finished for him.

He let out a long sigh.

"It's been hard on everyone here but it hit her the hardest."

"Only natural." Cut Man murmured. He glanced over at a photograph that was sitting on top of a table in the living room.

In the photo were two girls. One was Kris and the other was another girl who looked exactly like her.

* * *

How long had it been since she last saw Katherine?

How long had it been since she had talked to her?

How long had it been since she was...

How long had it been since Katherine was just here with her?

Five months, fifteen days, seventeen hours...

Kris had been keeping track of the days ever since she had woken up a week after that _day_.

_Screeching... _

_Panicked yells...  
_

_Her sister throwing her body over her, hugging her tightly as the bus began to turn on to it's side...  
_

_And then darkness...  
_

Five months ago there had been a road accident that had claimed thirty-two lives. It had been all over the news that week, especially when the reporters found out that relatives of the famous robot scientist Dr. Light had been involved. And out of those directly involved in the accident, only one person had survived.

That survivor had been Kris.

Kris had been the only one to make it out with her life but she had made it out without Katherine.

Her twin sister as well as her other half.

Ever since Katherine's passing Kris had been shattered, broken... incomplete.

And Kris had a feeling that she would never be complete again.

* * *

**Well, sorry to end it on that downer but what were you expecting? This is Fatal Frame and the third game basically revolves around the main characters losing a loved one and getting sucked into the Manor of Sleep as a result.  
**

**So yes, expect some very dramatic times in the story as Kris has to learn to deal with a creepy mansion in her dreams, real life moving on despite the fact that she feels as if her whole world has been blown into oblivion and fluctuating relationships as she starts withdrawing from other people even more and keeping secrets. Secrets that she would probably take down with her to her own grave.  
**


	3. Chapter Three

**Ahh... it's been a while since I started on this chapter. Sorry it took me so long, but I've been a bit busy, so yeah... anyways, I thought that I would start on this even though I have an analysis and a second exam coming this Friday. **

**So... yeah. Guess I'll be working on this while working on my analysis essay. Yay!  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fatal Frame or Mega Man. I do, however, own the main character of this story, Kris.  
**

* * *

**Chapter Three  
**

When she opened her eyes, she found herself standing in front of a large, beautiful Japanese styled mansion. The large house, or rather manor, was covered in snow and surrounded by lit candles. Around her, the snow flakes gently drifted downwards, blanketing both the structure and ground.

It was funny... even though it was snowing Kris didn't feel the slightest bit cold, despite the fact that she was just wearing a pair of dark jeans and a red sweater vest that was worn over top a white long sleeved blouse. To add to the touch of her clothing style, her white hoodie was tied firmly around her waist. Not the greatest defense against weather like this but she didn't have anything else on her that she could wear.

Actually, the only thing she had with her right now was a flashlight and... the camera that she had bought from the shop? Why the hell did she have the camera with her?

Kris knew this was all in her head, that it was a dream. She tended to know when she was in a dream, though this one was blatantly obvious as as she had never seen this scenario before. This was the first time that she had ever had a dream with snow and a manor in it.

In all her years of living in Japan with her great uncle, Kris had never stumbled across a house like the one in front of her; especially in the bustling modern city that was Tokyo.

It was an old fashioned house, the type that still existed in the country side or the less busy parts of Japan. There were a few houses built in a similar style in Tokyo but they weren't as big or as intimidating as the one that stood in front of her.

At this point, the most logical action would have been to enter the manor to get out of the elements even though she wasn't being affected by it.

But something within her twisted and balked at having to go inside.

After years of getting involved in Wily's schemes (and Blues) and having to get out of bad situations that could cost Kris her life, she had long ago learned to listen to her instincts warning her of any possible danger. They had never once failed her.

And right now her instinct was telling her to stay as far away from the house as possible.

It was also telling her to run away and never look back. Dream or not, there was no way in hell that Kris was going to go into the manor with the way her stomach was twisting into knots just by _staring _at it.

Turning way from the structure, she was about to walk away from the looming building and take her chances somewhere else when she saw something that made her freeze in place.

Standing a few feet in front of her was a girl who looked exactly like Kris, though her hair was a bit longer. She was wearing a sky blue sundress with a white jacket over top.

Kris took a step back, nearly falling over as she did so.

It was Katherine just as she had looked before her death.

Kris wasn't aware that she had stopped breathing until her lungs began to hurt and she started coughing as her aching organs demanded air so that she wouldn't pass out.

When she looked up from her coughing fit, she saw that the girl was still standing in front of her this time with a small smile on her face.

Kris' mouth was dry and when she opened it to try and say something, she found that she was unable to. Taking a deep breath, her lips were able to finally form a word but her voice came out cracked.

"Katherine?"

Katherine just smiled and then took a step towards Kris. And then she took another and another until she was standing right in front of the stunned girl. Though they were just moments from colliding into each other, the deceased twin still continued walking until she had walked right _though _Kris as if she wasn't there in the first place.

Kris felt a cold chill when Katherine had went right through her, completely ignoring her. She was able to turn around just in time to see the other girl open the door and enter the house, shutting the door right behind her.

Silence reigned over the entire area again as Kris stared at the door.

"She-" Kris blinked, finding it much easier to talk again. "-doesn't expect me to go in there, does she?"

Common sense as well as her former love of watching horror movies stated that following her sister into the house would be an incredibly bad idea. It didn't help that the lit candles outside of the manor added to the mood of a horror film. The kind of horror film where a group of incredibly stupid kids went into a rumoured haunted house... only to find that the house really was haunted and that someone or _something_ was stalking the halls and picking them off one by one.

But then again, was she really just going to stay outside all night?

Despite not wanting to go into the stupid manor, nothing was happening where she was right now. She probably had to go into the house if she wanted to wake up.

Which meant facing whatever was in there.

"I better not end up murdered in this dream." The girl muttered to herself, having had to endure several horrific nightmares of Wily winning and taking over the world. In those dreams, she was guaranteed to be one of the first ones to go along with Doctor Light and the rest of the Light Numbers.

It took Kris ten minutes to make it to the entrance as her legs had suddenly decided to weigh as much as lead, making it a struggle for her to lift up her limbs and move. Taking a deep breath, she placed her hands on the doors and pushed them inward, finally entering the mansion.

Remembering that she had a flashlight on her, Kris pressed down on the switch and held it in front of her using the item for all the potential it had. When the beam of light lit up the area around her, she could feel the tic under her left eye beginning to form again as it usually did when she started twitching at whatever stupidity life threw at her.

"Could my dream not be any more obvious about the whole 'haunted house' aspect?"

Certain that the flashlight was firmly in her hand, Kris headed further into the manor.

Along the way she had decided to go through the drawers that littered the corridors to try and find something useful; to see if there would be anything she could use to attack or fend off whatever would jump out in front of her and try to kill her. Any house or forest or whatever setting that had a spooky atmosphere to it was guaranteed to have some psychopath hell intent on splattering her blood all over the place.

She didn't find any weapons but she did find something that would come in handy.

Probably.

Maybe.

It was a small round container labeled 'Herb Medicine'. If she was in a video game, the Herb Medicine would probably be a health potion to raise her health bar if she had one.

Kris searched through more stuff along the way and found a film roll with the label 'Type-14' written on it. Seeing as she had a camera with her, she slipped the film inside it to leave more room in her pockets for more important objects.

It was a perfect fit.

* * *

Kris' eye twitched for the second time in this dream when she saw what was standing a few feet in front of her. So far nothing had jumped her when she had been walking through the twists and turns of the corridors, trying to find a room to either rest or get killed in. But once she found the one she was currently in...

It wasn't the elevated wooden level or the hearth that was in the middle of the room that caught her attention.

It wasn't even the eerie darkness that contrasted the candle-lit halls she had just come from that brought out instinct of whirling on her heel and just walking out.

Nope, it was the freaking _ghost _that was standing in the middle of the room that made her want to scream in frustration. She could tell that he was a ghost as his feet weren't touching the ground and it was obvious to anyone who was paying close attention to him that he was _levitating. _

Dressed in a dark blue yukata, the type one might wear during a summer festival, was a dark haired man. His skin was pale and he didn't seem to notice that there was someone else in the room with him and that they were greatly disturbed by his very existence. His back was facing towards her, not paying any particular attention to his surroundings.

The last part was a good thing; that meant she didn't have to deal with him and that she might be able to sneak past him.

Unfortunately, it took only two steps for the ghost to realize that he was no longer alone.

"Who's there?" He demanded, whirling around in Kris' direction.

His sudden outburst startled Kris and she nearly dropped the flash light. She bit her lip, preventing herself from outwardly cursing her luck of being caught by the ghost she was hoping to avoid.

The scowl and anger on the ghost's face slowly slipped into an expression of confusion and surprise once he saw her.

"Ah... you..." He seemed to be struggling with what to say next.

After two minutes of awkward silence that consisted of Kris and the ghost having a Mexican stand off, Kris decided to break it.

"If you're going to kill me, can you make it quick and painless?" Pretty dark humour, but Kris wanted to wake up from this dream _now_. And if asking the ghost in the room to murder her was one of the few ways...

The ghost balked at what Kris had suggested, staring at her in a way that suggested he thought that she was crazy.

"What?" He said incredulously. "Why would you say such a thing? Most people who come here desperately try and find a way to escape with their lives! And if they can't, they're killed anyways or just give up on living entirely because they despair of their situation!"

It was Kris' turn to stare at him like he was crazy. "I didn't say, die, _die._" She emphasized the last part for good measure. "Just die so that I wake up!"

Though would it be that bad if she did die? At least then she would get to see her sister again.

"Die so that you would wake up...?" The ghost was angry again. "If you die here, you'll die for real! You're body would turn into soot and your spirit would be stuck in the Manor of Sleep like the rest of them!"

"Why are you so riled up for?" Kris made a face at him. "It's just a dream."

The ghost twitched. "A dream." He said slowly. "...yes, it is a dream. But it is not an ordinary dream."

He gave her a strange look.

"You're more collected than the others who have come here in the past. Then again, I don't think you've quite realized the situation you are in right now."

Kris got the feeling that he thought she was an idiot.

"I'm in a dream with one of said dream's residents telling me to be serious." Kris deadpanned. "Yeah, I think I know what situation you're talking about."

The ghost gave a frustrated sigh, shaking his head. "That kind of attitude is going to get you killed far more quicker than the others."

"Judging by the fact that you have yet to kill me and that you're giving me warnings, I'm guessing that you're a friendly ghost?" Kris said wryly.

"...I suppose so. Unlike most of the residents in the manor, I do not like attacking or chasing those unfortunate enough to be drawn here."

Oh god. The friendly ghost who was giving her advice (although not very helpful) just out right stated that there were others like him who would love to kill her.

Deciding that she wasn't getting any where just by arguing with the man, she decided to ask him about what had brought her into the damned manor in the first place. "So have you seen a girl who looks exactly like me? She's wearing a blue dress and a white jacket."

Judging by his surprised reaction when he had first saw her, she didn't think that he saw Katherine pass through but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

The frustration on the ghost man's face softened. "This girl you're looking for," His voice was gentle and soft as if he understood why Kris had come into the mansion. "Is she-?"

He cut himself off as he stared past Kris, turning pale. Stared at something that was _standing right behind her. _

Kris suddenly became aware of someone else who wasn't either her or the ghost breathing heavily.

Bolting forward a few steps, she whirled around to find herself facing the entity that had gotten behind her without her noticing.

The 'entity' was a tall woman with long dark hair obscuring her face. She was wearing a hakama but with no top, revealing her ample chest to the world. She was covered in blue tattoos that, at close observation, made the woman look as if she was blue. Were it not for the fact that the woman was sending her heart rate up to dangerous levels, Kris would have screamed at her to put a shirt on.

Still breathing heavily the woman stumbled towards her, her long arm reaching towards Kris' throat and her fingers extended to touch her jugular.

Kris should have been running. Common sense dictated it. Her instincts dictated it. Her mind, that was working far harder than it ever had for a while was screaming that she should be listening to both her common sense and instincts _right now _and start that running she was supposed to be doing.

Instead, she was frozen in place through the fear and fascination she felt by the woman's appearance.

It was the ghost she had originally been talking to that snapped her out of her daze and back into reality. "What are you doing? RUN!"

Kris blinked as her mind caught up with what was happening. Dream or no dream, she had to get away now. As she took a step back, ready to turn on her heel, she felt the tip of the woman's fingers just brush her shoulder.

She gasped at the contact, feeling her skin burn the moment it had been made. The woman's light touch had felt like cold needles stabbing right through her.

Ignoring the feeling that the cold touch had left behind on her skin, Kris ran towards the door that she had come through and into the corridors. Her blood thundered through her ears and her heart beating so fast that she thought it would burst through her chest. Her lungs were aching and her stomach was gnawing at her, but she ignored it in favour of getting to the exit as fast as she good.

When she got to the entrance she pulled the doors apart not once looking back even when she heard a woman's eerie voice echo through her mind.

_"Let me sleep... forever..." _

* * *

__**And now I'm done! Tell me what you think! And as to why Kris wasn't freaking out the beginning? She thought it was all a dream. Don't worry, her fear will show in later chapters as well as her dwindling sanity.  
**

**Don't forget to review! I love reading what you think about this story!  
**


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